A federal judge in Washington agreed Thursday to delay until after Inauguration Day the trial of a Kansas man accused of attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after the defendant argued that it could be pointless, considering President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to pardon the rioters who stormed the building that day.

Several Jan. 6 defendants have sought in recent days to push back their trials and other court appearances until after Trump takes office. But the decision by Judge Rudolph Contreras to delay the trial of William Pope, a 38-year-old doctoral student at Kansas State University, appeared to be the first time that a jurist had postponed a proceeding directly at the request of a defendant who expected Trump to pardon him.

It remains unclear if Contreras will issue a written order outlining his reasons for allowing the delay. But after a hearing on the issue Thursday, Pope, who is acting as his own lawyer in the case, said in a brief interview that Contreras decided he did not want to waste judicial resources by holding a trial if Trump might ultimately wipe out a jury’s verdict by granting a pardon.

Pope’s trial was set to begin Dec. 2 in U.S. District Court in Washington. But last week, just days after Trump won the election, Pope filed court papers to Contreras, asking him to push back the trial for at least three months.

Federal prosecutors opposed the request, saying that the mere prospect of a presidential pardon was not enough to merit a delay.